Poachers in Pahang may have just Killed a Tiger

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The images are graphic and their contents are certain to upset any animal lover. The photos, allegedly taken in Pahang and widely shared on social media by outraged Malaysians, show several young men posing with the body of a dead tiger. In one of the images a man is seen dismembering the animal.

An image shared widely online shows young Malaysians posing with the body of a dead tiger. Photo Credit: New Strait Times

At least one prominent environmentalist believes he knows who has killed the tiger: young orang asli men. “The tiger was killed with a snare, usually used by the Orang Asli. They will wait for the tiger to walk into the sharp snare that kills the animal,” Hendry Goh, president of the Malaysian Nature Society, posited. “The poachers will give a bit of money to Orang Asli to kill the animals,” he noted. “In return, they make thousands in US dollars by selling the skins and other organs on the underground international market.”

Whoever killed the tiger, its death has dealt a further blow to frantic efforts to save the majestic predators in the wild. Once the undisputed masters of Malaysia’s forests, Malayan tigers have seen their numbers plunge to a mere 350 or so as a result of habitat loss and rampant poaching. This year alone seven wild tigers, including this latest one, are known to have died.

With the number of tigers so low, even the loss of a few more animals can have dire consequences for the survival of the subspecies. Make no mistake: The possibility that tigers go extinct in Malaysia isn’t simply hypothetical. It’s a very real threat indeed. There is plenty of precedence, sadly, for tigers going extinct in the region. Two distinct eponymous subspecies already went extinct in nearby Java and Bali decades ago, while Indochinese tigers have recently been driven extinct in Cambodia.

“It’s a worrying concern because we don’t have as many tigers as we thought we had,” notes Kanitha Krishnasamy, a program manager for the anti-trafficking network TRAFFIC. “Malayan tigers are critically endangered, which means we’re one step away from it being extinct in the wild.”

Seriously this has to be stopped! There re WWF that are trying etc to make a change but the changes need to be made by governments to really be understood. Countries that have these magestic animals should be teaching there people that they are worth more alive and being kept alive than DEAD and sold for there parts! Since when has any human been able to have the power of a tiger or gain from drinking the liquid from there boiled bones??????
It’s time for people to wake up and realise what great creatures we have and make a stand to live alongside them. They mean no harm and we need to all realise this and live alongside.

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Clean Malaysia is an independent online news site covering all aspects of Malaysia’s environmental landscape. We are dedicated to delivering news, analysis and opinions to both Malaysians and the international community. Our mission is to raise awareness of Malaysia as a tropical natural beauty but also to bring to light environmental dangers and encourage a debate about the future of Malaysia’s sustainable development.